Quiet on the set: In Bridgewater, no one would have guessed Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were in town

Friday

Sep 25, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 25, 2009 at 4:12 PM

It was clear that something was happening in town on Thursday, but it was quiet enough that no one would have guessed that Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were in town to film a scene for their new movie with the working title “Wichita.”

Theresa Knapp Enos

It was clear that something was happening in town on Thursday, but it was quiet enough that no one would have guessed that Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were in town to film a scene for their new movie with the working title “Wichita.”

One scene of the movie — a simulated plane crash of a Boeing 727 — is being filmed in a Cumberland Farms cornfield off Curve Street.

“I checked in and they said all the equipment is down there and everything is working and most of the people and extras are there,” said Stanley Kravitz, Board of Selectmen chairman.

The filming started Thursday from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m., and will continue today from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

During the duration of filming, parking bans are in effect on Curve Street and nearby streets as well as parking limitations on other streets including Auburn, Summer and Laurel streets; Eagle Trace, Glenwood Drive Summerdale Farms Way, Sherwood Lane and Windemere Way.

On Thursday, as a helicopter flew overhead, “No Parking” signs were hung along Summer and Auburn streets as were “Residents Only” signs in area subdivisions. Curve Street was closed to everyone but residents and invited guests. Both ends of Curve Street were guarded by police officers.

Bright yellow “Zephyr” signs, an in-house code word for cast and crew, led movie cast members to the Bridgewater Senior Center on Wally Krueger Way, which is being used as a staging area for the movie. There, visitors were greeted by Hub Security, a private security firm hired by the production company, and a tight-lipped Bridgewater police officer who only smiled and nodded when asked how things were going.

Signs also led crew members to the Bridgewater Sports Complex on Bedford Street, which is being used as a satellite parking area.

Cast and crew were then transported to the farm in white passenger vans.

“It hasn’t been a problem at all; it’s been pretty smooth,” said Keith Bachand of Auburn Street, as he waited for the arrival of the afternoon school bus. “You wouldn’t even know it was going on except for the cop at the beginning on the (Curve) street.”

Bachand said the production company had been proactive in keeping residents up to date on the schedule and activities through messages and fliers.

“They’ve been great,” he said.

Moviemakers also hosted a public forum earlier this month to educate neighbors about the disruption to their neighborhood — which will include pyrotechnics between midnight and 4 early Saturday morning.

Residents at the forum asked for movie details.

“It’s an airplane in the middle of the field, that’s really about it,” said Hyunsoon Moon, assistant location manager for 20th Century Fox Films. “Anything further than that, I really can’t comment in detail.”